This blog used to be about politics. Not so much anymore as I have worked through
my fascination with that subject. It now seems appropriate that with a new president
and the end of the Bush nightmare that I move on to new subjects that are more in
line with my current interests. I may still occasionally express an opinion about
political matters but for the most part I will be commenting on music, photography
and personal observations. Thank you for reading.

"'To assure that Congress observes spending discipline, now and in the future, I propose making spending limits the law,' Mr. Bush said in his weekly radio address. 'This simple step would mean that every additional dollar the Congress wants to spend in excess of spending limits must be matched by a dollar in spending cuts elsewhere.' "

Things unfold. "Elsewhere" means social and domestic programs. The sacred cows will remain sacred. Notice the false dichotomy? A good budget would balance spending with revenue, not just cuts in other spending. Bush is taking his tax cuts (revenue loss) off the table. That's too bad, because he doesn't have that mandate, or the support of the public. He has to limit our options to get his agenda through. This is the heart of Pres. Bush's dishonesty.

Mr. Bush boasted that he would virtually freeze many domestic programs, with an increase of less than 1 percent for domestic discretionary spending outside of military and homeland security.

But he is proposing an increase of 7 percent for the military, including 13 percent more for missile defense systems; an increase of nearly 10 percent for heightened security against terrorist attacks; and an increase of 11 percent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

I propose that we just re-classify ALL spending as military. This will happen naturally as nobody wants their pet projects to get left out in the badlands of domestioc spending. Lawmakers will look first to military related spending to funnel monies to their districts.